Should be sick of driving at this point, but I'm not. Drove to Luling on Saturday to try out City Market (not the one in Houston). Really nice ribs, but it seems I am too accustomed to Goode Company brisket and sausage links. That is somewhat disappointing, but probably a good thing in the long run given the distance. Charming little town. This happened to be the weekend of Thump so ended up with some cute watermelon souvenirs.

Afterwards, headed to New Braunfels and San Antonio. Then drove back for a day's total of eight hours. Excellent mileage on the hyb, even running at 70+ most of the way down I-10. Hurricane evacuation practice run sent me to Austin this morning. Chalk up six more hours. Too tired to want to stop in Lockhart for a Smitty's run. Another time perhaps when I haven't gorged on meat for days.

Kitty was a hero this morning. I'm busily taking apart a hard-boiled egg when the little one scurries into the kitchen swatting at something. I look down, and he is chasing a mosquito. I take a few seconds to put my egg down without making a mess, and we both lose sight of the insect. A few seconds later, BK flushes it out from under the kitchen table, and we corner it so that it lands on the island counter. Whap! I'm wearing someone's blood on my palm, and my little hunter enjoys a richly-deserved chicken treat...

Seven Honda Vehicles Certified for New Energy Tax Credit. Finally! Just noticed this today. Without the credit, the Civic Hybrid commands a substantial premium over the EX so it's nice not to have to deal with this uncertainty. Driving this baby (resisting the urge to name it Hybrie...) is a real pleasure, even when averaging 15 mph on 288 in a steady drizzle.

Guantanamo suicides 'acts of war'. Aside from the fact that this idiot's statement is so enraging, (1) no one can know for sure at this point that these were actually suicides, and (2) the military has barred the press from having access to the prison. Why isn't GW rotting in a prison for committing crimes against humanity already? Ass.

The camp commander said the two Saudis and a Yemeni were "committed" and had killed themselves in "an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us".

Whoa. Started browsing reviews for sushi places a few hours ago (we finally found a good one, and it ain't Osaka), wandered over to eGullet and Texas BBQ write-ups, and somehow began making plans for turning my disaster recovery practice drive to Austin into some sort of BBQ tasting tour. Yeah, boyyyyy!

I must admit that I experienced a bit of buyer's remorse shortly after getting the Civic Hybrid. The lack of cargo space (rear seats don't fold up because the batteries are stored behind them), low horsepower, and soft braking had me wishing that I had purchased a non-hybrid Civic EX instead. Lately, however, I am thrilled to have such a mileage beast (obviously a major factor in my buying decision), and it is just fun to drive and look at. I don't haul large parcels often, and the 110-hp engine keeps me from speeding excessively.